1 Response to qc99sampras_hewitt

1. Voo de Mar says:

   March 3, 2022 at 12:32 pm

   Points won by each set: | 24-29, 36-30, 46-41 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   39 % Sampras – 39 of 100
   26 % Hewitt – 28 of 106

   That match indicated the 18-year-old Hewitt [42] would be a very difficult opponent for Sampras [3] in the years to come. The teenage Australian displayed great forehand returns and backhand passing-shots, in the future he’d improve his serve and lobs, and it was a lethal combination for the ageing Sampras (as well as for the other serve-and-volleyers) who lost the last four meetings against Hewitt, being pretty hopeless on each occasion.
   In London they met for the second time and a sensation slightly hung in the air already in the opening game of the 2nd set when Hewitt led 40/0 on return when Sampras’ strings gone as he missed his first serve; he changed the racquet and held. At 5:4 Sampras finally got his first break with the help of the weather – it started to rain during that 10th game. The match was suspended at one set apiece and after the resumption the court was slippery, Sampras slipped and fell down in the first point which he won, but didn’t feel comfortable and poorly played four consecutive points (including two double faults in a row). Hewitt led 3:1, at 5-all he had a mini-match point – Sampras delivered a second service winner as his kick-serve landed on the intersection of the sideline and service line. Hewitt also led 3:1 in the tie-break being quite close to build a double mini-break advantage – his forehand return would have been a winner if the ball hadn’t been hit the net-cord allowing Sampras to take the initiative. When the teenager trailed *4:5, Sampras played his best tennis: first he won one of the longest rallies of the match with a forehand DTL winner, then he converted his first match point at the net.

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